


Easter Egg

by kellallyourfriends



Category: Waterparks (Band), With Confidence (Band)
Genre: Disability, High School, M/M, im a slut for disability aus wooo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 20:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11238279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kellallyourfriends/pseuds/kellallyourfriends
Summary: All things happen for a reason, don't they?When Awsten found out his second-semester elective was woodshop, he wholeheartedly disagreed with that statement. Surely being put into woodshop was simply a meaningless annoyance. He was wrong. If his schedule had said something different, he'd never have dropped the class and applied to be a teacher's aide, and he'd never have bothered to talk to Geoff Wigington, and he'd definitely never have discovered the unlikely similarity between them.





	1. Red

"Excuse me, is Ms. Costello accepting teacher's aide applications?"

"Yes."

"Is there a spot available for fifth period?"

"Yes, there is. Do you have a form?"

"I do. Here it is."

"Thank you very much. You'll get a notice by tomorrow."

"Thanks a bunch."

"You're welcome."

Awsten nodded and walked out of the office.

God-damned woodshop.

He swore, if Ms. Costello didn't let him be her TA, he would spend fifth period locked in the supply closet. His klutzy, twitchy hands could never measure straight, any cut he got bigger than a pinprick required rubbing alcohol and a Band-Aid applied within fifteen seconds, and god forbid his weak little arms hold anything heavier than an apple-why had woodshop of all electives been his counselor's first choice for him? He hadn't even put it on his preference form.

Whatever. His mom was waiting in front with her car. The first day of second semester was one: over and two: never important. He could simply go on home and pray he got the position.

Which is exactly what he did.

And the next morning in homeroom, Awsten held his breath through the entire announcements, just waiting for Mr. Smith to call up the students who'd had their schedules changed since the previous day. He swore to Jesus and Gabe Saporta's lush asshole that if he wasn't on that list, he would have a temper tantrum. He would not do woodshop. 

Finally Mr. Smith began to read the list. 

There were a bunch of irrelevant names Awsten didn't care about. Then Smith called out "Dena Judson" and he perked up. He had to fucking be next.

"Awsten Knight."

Hurriedly, Awsten pushed in his chair and stumbled up to Mr. Smith's desk. The schedules were laid out in front, the names facing the class, waiting to be received lovingly by the anxious-to-transfer students. Or whatever they were.

Awsten scanned the desk for his name. In less than ten seconds, he found his new schedule. He swept it up and bolted back to his desk, impatient to see whether he'd gotten what he wanted.

There it was, clearly marked, between lunch and sixth period:

"Teacher's Aide: R. 302, A. Costello."

"Yes!" he internally screamed. No God-forsaken woodshop. He could sit quietly in the back of Ms. Costello's classroom and sort papers or something instead of having to handle power tools and die from a horrible disease he contracted after cutting himself with a slightly dirty chisel. Not to mention the hassle of having to dispose of the chisel in a government-issued container, or at the very least, boil it with missile-proof gloves on.

"You're TA-ing for that class?"

Awsten looked up. Peering over his shoulder, looking down at his schedule, was none other than Melanie. "Why do you care?" he shot back at her.

"I'm just wondering," she asked. "You chose to do that one?" 

"Um, yeah," he said, turning back around.

"Why?"

He sighed and looked back at her. "Because I like Ms. Costello?"

"Yeah," she said, "but what about her students?"

"What about her students?"

"Aren't they...you know-" she twirled her finger around her ear.

"I don't know, I've never spoken to any of them," he said.

"Of course, duh!" she said, facepalming. "Why would anyone?"

Melanie stalked back to her seat and Awsten was left to put his schedule in his backpack, wondering what the hell she was on about.

It was halfway through fourth period when he had the epiphany.

Ms. Costello taught special ed.

*****

When he strolled up to room 302 for fifth period, he was greeted by a bone-crushing hug from Ms. Costello.

"Awsten!" she exclaimed. "Your hair!"

He blushed. "Um, yeah, I dyed it."

"You look so good!" Somehow she hugged him tighter. "I haven't seen you in forever, how've you been?"

"Pretty good," he said, pulling away from her. 

"I suppose I'd better let you start TA-ing, huh?" she said.

Awsten smiled. "Maybe."

Ms. Costello stepped out of the doorway, allowing Awsten to actually go into the classroom. 

There weren't nearly as many desks as would be in an ordinary classroom-in fact, he could only see two real desks in the entire room. Every other seating option was either a straight-up table or...yeah, that was it. Also, for some reason, all the chairs had tennis balls attached to bottoms of the legs. Awsten wondered why he was so surprised by all this.

Even though the bell had barely rung three minutes before, there were already five students present. A tiny girl sat in a noticeably larger chair than the others, having a conversation with a really fricking tall guy and another girl gesturing wildly with her hands. Next to them, a straight couple (Awsten assumed) in wheelchairs played what appeared to be an invigorating game of rock-paper-scissors-slap-each-other-in-the-face.

Ms. Costello was still standing behind him, and as if reading his thoughts, said "Yes, these are my children. Why don't you introduce yourself?" 

"Like, in front of them, or-"

"Just go say hi. You have blue hair. They'll love you."

"Well, uh, alright," he said, and scanned the room. The presumed straight couple looked less like a clique than the other group, and at the very least Awsten wanted to find out exactly what they were doing. He made his way over to them, awkwardly bumping into every other table.

The couple looked up after he ran into the third one.

"H-hey," he stammered. "I'm, ah, Awsten and I'm Ms. Costello's TA."

"We can tell," said the girl. 

Awsten glanced at his feet. "Oh, well, um..."

"Dude, you're fine," said the guy. "I'm Otto and-you're okay with swearing?" Awsten nodded and he went on. "My gestational period fucked me over and now I'm here."

"And I'm Chloe-" began the girl before Otto whispered something into her ear. She shook her head and he whispered something else. She sighed and went on. "And I died at the age of three and only resurrected halfway."

Awsten nodded. "Good for you?"

Chloe laughed. "He's trying so hard."

"So..." began Awsten, attempting a different approach, "how long have you two been together?"

"We're not dating," said Otto. "We're just the only two people in this class who like My Chemical Romance."

"And Geoff," said Chloe, turning to Otto.

"Yeah, but Geoff's not here yet," he said.

"Well, okay," said Chloe. "He's never on time anyway."

The room started to fill. One of the two desks was claimed, leaving the other one still empty. Awsten drew away from Otto and Chloe and drifted to Ms. Costello.

Half a second before the bell rang for the period to start, the door burst open and in rushed a tall, disgruntled-looking guy. Ms. Costello took off for him and swiftly wrapped him into a massive Ms. Costello hug. "Geoff! You're on time!"

Geoff grunted and Ms. Costello released him.

"Sorry 'bout that, honeybunch," she said. "Get to your seat."

Hastily, Geoff stumbled to the remaining empty desk, tapping his hands on his thighs. Awsten could've sworn he knew him. 

Ms. Costello waved her hands around wildly, and the class snapped to attention. Damn, that was fast, thought Awsten. 

"Alright, everyone, get out your homework, and open your books to chapter 4."

There was a rustling of papers and books and stuff. Awsten glanced at the page, surprised to find he couldn't understand the concept on it. 

"We're doing economic systems today! Oh, right-" she grabbed Awsten's wrist "-this is my TA, Awsten! He'll be in the back if you need help with something."

Awsten took that as a hint to go to the back of the room. 

Ms. Costello said some things about economics he didn't understand, then instructed the class to do an assignment. When she finished she bustled over to Awsten. "Can you alphabetize these while they work?"

"Um, sure," said Awsten, "but, um, you said they could ask me for help, and, um, my history class isn't on economics yet-"

"You'll be fine," said Ms. Costello. "Just get me if you're in over your head."

"Well, okay," he said.

The rest of the period passed by oddly quickly. Everyone seemed to understand what Ms. Costello was talking about, and Awsten finally remembered they were seniors fifteen minutes into the lesson.

Whoops. 

Ms. Costello got them into groups of four and had them discuss things. Awsten didn't understand anything and just sat there filing stuff until something else happened.

Nothing happened until the end of class, when Ms. Costello told them to start getting their stuff together. While that was happening, she beelined for Geoff's desk. 

"Hey, Awsten."

He looked up. Ms. Costello stood next to Geoff, motioning for Awsten to come over. "What?" he asked as he bumped into yet another desk.

"Can you do me and Geoff a favor?" she asked.

"Depends on what the favor is," said Awsten.

"Where's your fourth period?"

"705," replied Awsten.

"That's very convenient," she said. "Can you walk with Geoff to this class tomorrow? His fourth is 704."

"Sure, why not?" said Awsten. 

"Thank you," said Ms. Costello just as the bell rang. "Now I hope to see you two here on time tomorrow."

Awsten smiled. "Count on it."

"Go to class."

"Okay."

*****

"So, how was TA-ing?" asked Jawn, pulling out his homework.

"It was all right," said Awsten.

Jawn wrote a sentence and looked back up. "What'd you have to do?"

"Not much. I just hung out in the back and sorted papers."

"What are her students like?"

"They're pretty cool," said Awsten absently as he read through his English assignment.

"Really?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well, um, aren't they-" 

"They're all right."

"Okay, okay," said Jawn. "But isn't there that one kid who gets lost in the hallway all the time?"

"What kid?"

"You know, brown hair, kinda weird blue eyes, always wears the same hoodie?"

"Oh!" said Awsten, and snapped his fingers. "I know who you're talking about."

"You have him in that class?" asked Jawn.

"Yes, why?"

"Isn't he, like, retarded or something?"

"I'm walking him to fifth period tomorrow."

Jawn's eyes widened. "You're serious?"

Awsten nodded, clearly done with Jawn's questions. "Don't you have homework?"

"Oh, yeah. That," said Jawn. No more was said on the subject and they finished their homework within the hour.


	2. Orange

"Dude."

"What?"

"Can I copy your homework?"

"No, Jayden, we've talked about this. You have to do your own work, or I'll get in trouble."

"Fine."

Awsten smiled and slammed his locker behind him as he took off for second period, Jayden following moderately close behind. The hallways were always jammed with fuckboys and girls hugging, but if anyone could part the crowds, it was Jayden Seeley. Girls love Jayden Seeley.

They reached second period just before the bell rang and Mr. Yough pulled out his whip.

"All right class, get your essays out and pass them in, and when you get the pile, put yours on top. Make sure your name is on your paper. God, I can't believe I have to say that. You're in eleventh grade. We're correcting the mechanics quiz today."

Jayden tugged on Awsten's sleeve. 

"See that boy over there?" he said, and pointed to a bleach-blond kid in black faux-leather pants. Awsten nodded.

"That's Rockets."

"Yeah, Luke Rockets," said Jayden. "Rumor is he's gay."

"Dude, he looks so gay, of course there would be rumors," said Awsten. "Don't get your hopes up."

"Aws, I mean he is actually gay."

Awsten choked on a laugh. "What?"

"Luke Rockets is gay."

"No way!" said Awsten. "He's the only guy in the school who's hooked up with more girls than you!"

"Knight!"

Mr. Yough stood behind Awsten, arms crossed, looking like he was about to slap a bitch.

"Lunch detention."

"I-"

"No excuses! If this happened when I was in school you would've gotten a good old-fashioned paddling!"

"It's not 1910 anymore," muttered Jayden.

"Seeley!" shouted Mr. Yough. "I'll be seeing you at lunch too."

"I already have detention at lunch, sir. For Br-I mean, Mr. Anderson."

"You can't get out that easy, Seeley. See me after class," barked Mr. Yough. "As for the rest of you, open your textbooks and turn to page 537." A collective groan spread among the students as he stalked back up to the chalkboard and rapped on the wall. "Now, chemical reactions are very complex processes..."

Awsten and Jayden tuned him out for the rest of the period.

The bell couldn't have rung fast enough. Everyone made a beeline sprint for the exit, even Jayden, who knew by now not to argue with Mr. Yough. 

He did not escape. 

"Not so fast, Seeley! Get back here before I give you a referral. And to the rest of you," Yough shouted, "the last person to leave, please close the door behind you."

Awsten hung back to ensure he was the last to leave. Jayden was no stranger to Mr. Yough's medieval rapid-fire lectures, but the rest of the class had no clue, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He slammed the classroom door as the shouting started and practically ran to third period, where he almost died of boredom, and fourth period, where he almost died of apprehension. It was lucky he didn't, he thought, or the school would be condemned for having a biohazard on campus. And Ms. Costello would be pissed at him for not walking Geoff to class.

That's when he remembered he had lunch right before fifth period. 

No problem, he thought, I can just sprint to 70-whatever and find the guy. 

 

So he did and almost collapsed in front of 703. 

He was lucky the bell hadn't quite rung yet, or he'd be getting trampled by tired art students. Panting, he braced himself against the wall and waited for fourth period to start. 

About four seconds after it started, Awsten felt a light tap on his shoulder and almost shit himself. He turned and saw Geoff standing a few feet to his right, staring at the ground, fidgeting with his hands, looking exceedingly uncomfortable. 

 

"Um, hey," said Awsten. Geoff didn't move. "Let's go, I guess."

Geoff looked up and moved toward Awsten, who set off for fifth period, almost leaving him behind. He broke into a run for the three steps it took to get to Awsten.

"Fuck, sorry," said Awsten upon seeing him try to keep up. "I'll slow down."

"Thanks," muttered Geoff, almost too soft to hear.

Long awkward pause. Then, "So, why are you always late to class?"

Geoff tapped on his thighs. "Um. I can't, um, I'm bad with directions, and, like, remembering things, and, well..." He trailed off and shrugged, as if to complete the sentence.

"Oh," said Awsten.

"Yeah," said Geoff.

Another pause. "What do you do?"

"Huh?"

"What's your thing? What do you like?"

"Uh, what?"

"What's your favorite thing?" asked Awsten, accenting every word.

"Favorite what?"

Awsten sighed. "What do you like, more than anything else? 'Cause-"

"Sum 41."

"Okay."

"I love Sum 41."

"Me too."

Geoff broke into a grin. "I love you."

"Uh," stuttered Awsten. He felt his face getting hot and tried to think of something to say to save his ass. Blushing? Really? Because of Geoff? This has nothing to do with what Geoff is, he thought. I'm just a hopeless romantic and I'll blush for anyone. He's not cute. I don't find him cute.

"Sorry," said Geoff, noticing Awsten's face and stuff.

"What? Oh-it's fine."

"Okay," said Geoff, turning away, leaving Awsten to ruminate on his life choices as they walked to class. 

Why did Geoff make him feel like that? All he'd said was "I love you," presumably as a joke, and Awsten had blushed and sputtered and lost the ability to think. Something was wrong.

It never crossed Awsten's mind that it might be a crush, but Geoff had been forced into enough social situations to know a flustered boy when he saw one. Some boys were cuter flustered than others. Geoff thought he was one of the cute ones. 

They got to room 302 a minute and a half early.


	3. Yellow

Otto looked up at them when they came in. "It's about time."

Awsten laughed, not noticing Geoff stare down at the tile floor.

"Chill, dude," said Otto. "I'm not serious. Get in here. Let me talk about My Chemical Romance."

Geoff smiled and made his way to Otto and Chloe, parked in their usual spots. Awsten simply stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"Boy, why are you just standing there?" said Chloe. "Come on. Join society."

Awsten glanced at the table in front of her and only then noticed the pair of scissors she was toying with. "Okay," he said, and knelt on the floor next to Geoff.

"Why did you let him do that?" Otto asked Geoff, sending Awsten's mind to sad places.

"Do what?" said Awsten.

"Walk him to class," said Otto, turning to Geoff and nodding. Geoff nodded back at him and Otto sighed. "As far as I know, Geoff hates people."

"Well, no..." stammered Geoff, and gestured again to Otto. Chloe passed the scissors from hand to hand, making Awsten uneasy.

"Let me rephrase that," said Otto. "He has a deep-seated mistrust of other human beings."

Geoff nodded. "People hate me."

"Yes," said Otto, and glanced at Geoff one more time. "We met in seventh grade and I can't remember the last time he let someone do a favor for him."

"Why not?" Awsten asked Geoff. "You seem like an...okay person."

"Um," said Geoff, his eyes darting around the room, "too many people who'd, like, trip me and stuff, and, uh, laugh at me for not, like, realizing they were going to." Chloe pushed the scissors around again. "I'm just, well, bad, y'know, with people." 

"I get that," said Awsten, not getting any of it. 

The scissors slid across the table, Chloe expertly directing, and Geoff's eyes followed them. "I, uh, well, I'm not that smart-"

"Shut up," said Otto. "You can balance chemical equations in your head."

"Okay, but, like, people."

"People suck," said Chloe as she spun the scissors on a finger. "All you need in life is an equal amount of aluminum atoms in both the reactant and the product."

"And My Chemical Romance," said Otto. 

"Yes, can't forget about-"

The scissors slipped from Chloe's controlled orbit.

They moved actually rather slowly, but Awsten jerked away from the table as quickly as possible and took refuge a few feet out of the scissors' range. Awkwardly, he put his hands down and tried to face the other three.

For a moment, he furrowed his brow, wondering why only Otto and Chloe were still there. Then his gaze slipped down and found Geoff under the table. "Geoff?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you there?"

"Why are _you_ there?"

Neither of them moved until Chloe cleared her throat. "Um, I'm sorry about that. Geoff, the scissors are gone, you can come out."

Geoff crawled to his previous spot, and Awsten did the same and placed his hands on the table to feel more included.

"Well, that was a bit weird," he said.

"Okay," said Otto, "Geoff I can understand, but do you have a severe scissor phobia or something? I'm not trying to be rude or anything."

"Um, it's nothing," said Awsten.

"Really?"

"Really," snapped Awsten.

"Seriously dude-"

"Drop it," burst out Geoff, startling Otto.

"All right!" said Otto. "I'll stop." 

Awsten looked down. He felt someone place their hand over his, and when he came back up, he caught Geoff sitting just a bit closer to him. He drummed his free fingers on the table. 

The rhythm he'd tapped repeated after he'd relaxed his hand. That was weird-until he glanced over and saw Geoff smiling far too cutely for his totally-not-into-Geoff heart. It sped the frick up, and Awsten tried moving his hand away.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Geoff whipped his own hand off Awsten's. "Sorry about that," he muttered, and gave Otto a look of pure "save me."

Otto didn't have to do any saving, as the bell rang and Ms. Costello immediately jumped into economics and stuff. Awkwardly, Awsten walked to the back of the room and took his position as grader of multiple-choice tests.

He hated Geoff.

He hated Geoff for doing that. 

What that was, he wasn't exactly sure, but he hated Geoff for it. Making his heart do the thing. Making his face get all hot and stuff. Making him look so weird. Sure, maybe he's kinda cute, thought Awsten, but he's...you know. 

He told that to Jayden while they were doing homework at his house.

Jayden gave him a quizzical look. "You know?"

"You know," said Awsten, "not...normal. He's sweet and all, but I don't think..."

"What?"

"...I couldn't be with someone like him. I don't even like him."

Jayden laughed. "Are you sure about that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're getting all hot and bothered over him," said Jayden, "and you haven't been like that since Ciara."

"Well-"

"And it's not like you're normal, either."

"Well, yeah," said Awsten, "but I'm not enough of a weirdo to be in special ed. I don't like him."

"Didn't you walk him to class?"

"It's not like I'm gonna be mean to him," protested Awsten. "He's special ed. Do you know how much shit I'd get for being a dick to a special kid?"

"You like him."

"I do not."

"You don't not like him."

"Fine!" sighed Awsten. "You got me. But if you tell Jawn I'll lock you in the closet."

"Why would I tell Jawn?" said Jayden.

"Don't you get off on this?"

"No," said Jayden. "I just kinda like watching Mr. Self-Confidence struggle with the fact that he has a massive fucking crush on a special ed student who actually sounds like a pretty alright guy, but who he won't give a chance to because he's not 'normal.'"

"You can't force me to hook up with him," said Awsten.

"You're right," said Jayden. "I can't. But I can't resist matchmaking."

"We're not a match!" shouted Awsten, slamming his fist on the table and making everything jump.

"Maybe you're not," said Jayden, "but I know a boy with a crush when I see one."

"Did you finally learn something useful from all that time you spend in front of a mirror?"

"Shut up and do your homework."


	4. Chartreuse

Jayden spent the walk to lunch the next day staring at Luke Rockets's ass. 

"We get it," said Awsten, "you want to stick your dick in him. Now can you stop staring?"

"It's fine," said Jayden, quickening his pace. "It just looks like I'm eyeing the chick next to him."

"He's probably not even gay," said Awsten.

"Don't care-hey, Ini!" said Jayden. Awsten glanced at the dude who'd just walked up.

"What's up?" said Inigo as he hitched onto their clique. Within seconds, he had captured Jayden's attention completely, and Awsten was left to gently guide them to their usual lunch table.

The usual suspects-Jawn, Zakk, Derek, and Ryan-were already on the usual side of the bleachers, and the other side was fully occupied by what Awsten called "the Fucktastic Four." Vic and Kellin fucked every night. Jack and Alex probably fucked at least once a week. Both couples had been dating since last spring, and they were all perfect for each other. After all, thought Awsten, who else would Jack and Alex ever find?

"Awsten!" called Jawn. "How are your short bus friends?"

The others chuckled as Awsten, slightly pissed, sat down by Zakk. "They're not my friends." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Jayden hiding a small smile, and balled up his fists. "I swear."

"Really?" said Zakk. "I thought you liked Jack and Alex."

Jack, from the other side of the bleachers, turned his head. "Who likes us?"

"It's nothing," said Awsten, flustered.

"Doesn't sound like nothing," said Jack. 

"Seriously, dude," said Awsten, an unintentional dismissive edge to his voice, "go back to kissing your boyfriend or something."

Jack narrowed his eyes and turned away. 

"I still can't believe you actually signed up to do that," said Jawn. 

"Yeah," said Zakk. "I mean, I knew you were a good Christian boy, but I didn't think you'd actually..." He trailed off and Awsten looked down at the asphalt.

"Come on," muttered Awsten, "they're not that bad."

"Still," said Jawn, "it's funny that you hate woodshop so much that you'd do that to get out of it."

 

"What? I don't trust myself around tools."

"You're basically TA-ing for a class of tools," said Jawn, earning another chuckle. 

"They're not-"

"And you let yourself be seen in the hallway with that retarded kid," said Jawn between snickers. "I saw you trying to talk to it."

"It?" said Awsten. 

"It," pressed Jawn. 

"I saw that too," said Zakk. "It was being creepy or something."

"Did you hear any of it?" murmured Awsten.

"Your face said it all, man," said Jawn. "And the way it was trying to talk to you? You're dumb."

"Jesus," said Awsten. "It's not like I can get out of it now."

"I feel bad for you," said Jawn. "You're stuck with enough mental cases as is." He inclined his head toward Alex.

Awsten folded his arms. "Alex is different."

"How?" drawled Jawn.

"He didn't choose to take an eighteen wheeler to the head. Plus he's almost normal by now."

"Whatever."

Awsten sighed and got out his lunch money.

*****

He crept into room 302 alone and went straight to the back to sort papers and stuff, not noticing Geoff burst in behind him, looking incredibly confused. 

Geoff wandered to Otto and Chloe. "Hey," said Otto. "Did Awsten walk you here, like yesterday?"

Softly, he shook his head.

"How'd you get here so fast?" asked Chloe.

"Followed him," said Geoff.

"What?" said Chloe.

"Blue hair," murmured Geoff. "Easy to see. Just uh, keep your head, well, down and don't make, like, eye contact."

Otto nodded. "Smart."

"Yeah," said Geoff. "I wanna, like, talk to him more, though."

"Do you like him?" asked Chloe.

"Well, uh," stammered Geoff, "kinda, but I think I, uh, like, put him off me."

"I think he's just an arrogant teenager," said Chloe. "What'd you do?"

"Made him blush."

"What?"

Geoff played with the hem of his shirt. "Yesterday, when we were walking, I asked him about Sum 41, right? And uh, he said he liked them, and uh..."

"What then?"

He took a deep breath. "I said 'I love you,' and he blushed. And then, well, you saw what happened when we got here."

"I think he likes you."

"He does?" said Geoff.

"It sounds like that," said Chloe. "I've third-wheeled enough people to know vaguely what it looks like."

"Literally third-wheeled," added Otto. 

"Stop it," said Chloe.

The bell rang.

It was your average economy lesson, but with a catch: Ms. Costello finished it early. 

"You all can have a little free time," she said with a hand-wave. Geoff glanced at the clock-five minutes until the bell rang-and wondered if he should take the opportunity presented to him at that moment.

Otto apparently thought so. "Geoff, go talk to him."

"No!" hissed Geoff.

"Why not?"

"What do I say?"

Otto shrugged. "Ask him his favorite Sum 41 album or something."

"But-"

"I believe in you, loverboy," said Chloe. "Go get that piece of man."

"Isn't he, like, an underclassman?"

"Not technically," said Chloe. "He's a junior. You can do this."

"Uh-alright," said Geoff. He stood up and warily crossed the room, occasionally messing with his shirt's bottom hem, dodging the tables, trying to look nonchalant, until he came to Awsten. 

The younger boy was sitting at the unused table in the back of the classroom, a neat stack of papers in front of him. Upon closer inspection, Geoff realized they were last week's socialism quizzes. So Awsten must've seen just how badly he'd scored on that quiz. He immediately regretted coming over and turned to go back, but was caught in the act. "Geoff?"

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face Awsten. "H-hey."

"What do you want?"

"Um-" Geoff wracked his brain for something to say. "Just wanted to say, uh, I like your hair."

Awsten glanced at the table. "Thanks, I guess."

Okay, thought Geoff, this is not going well. "So, well, where'd you get it done?"

"I did it myself," mumbled Awsten. "Not the bleach, though. Just the dye."

"You bleached it?"

"My hair's naturally brown," said Awsten bluntly. "Bleach makes the dye show up better."

Geoff nodded. "Did it hurt?"

"What?"

"The bleach, I mean," said Geoff. "'Cause my sister says it, like, hurts."

"It kind of did," said Awsten. "It's not too bad, though." He produced another chair from under the table. "Sit down?"

Geoff shook his head. "Um, I can stand."

"I'll stand too, then, I guess," said Awsten, and he stood. "Barely anyone asks about my hair."

"Oh," said Geoff. "Is it, like, weird? 'Cause I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I guess," said Awsten. "What are-"

The bell rang and Awsten cut himself off.

"Sorry. Gotta go." He picked up a blue backpack and zoomed out into the hallway.

Geoff ambled out of the room, buzzing.


	5. Green

After school, it was business as usual for both boys. Awsten went to Jayden's for homework with Jawn as a plus-one; Geoff hosted the study party at his own house with Otto, Chloe, and Jenna. It was ordinary except for one thing: the thoughts of each other racing through their minds.

Half an hour into his reflective essay outline, Awsten slammed his blue pencil down, rattling the three water glasses on the table, and sighed heavily.

"What's up, dude?" asked Jayden, distracted.

"I can't focus," stated Awsten. "I can't stop thinking about that stupid kid."

"What kid?" asked Jawn.

"Geoff. The kid I walked to fifth period yesterday."

"What's up with him? Other than the retardedness, of course," said Jawn.

"Can you stop calling him retarded?" said Awsten. 

"Why do you care?"

"I don't," said Awsten instinctively. "He's just a weirdo, that's all."

Jawn gave him an odd look, but went on. "What'd it do?"

"He tried to talk to me at the end of class today," said Awsten.

"Really?" said Jayden, and Awsten had to resist the urge to slap that little smirk off his face.

"Jesus," said Jawn. "Did you tell it to fuck off?"

"No, and I wish I had," said Awsten uncomfortably, glancing at Jayden out of the corner of his eye and clenching his fists. Don't say anything. "He made me feel like an idiot. I didn't know what to say to him."

"Whaddya mean?" said Jawn.

"I dunno," said Awsten. "When he came up to me, he just...you know those people who can talk and talk and still not give you anything to respond off of?"

"Yeah?"

"He's one of those people." Awsten took a sip from his water glass. "Either that or I'm catching whatever it is he has."

"Or you like him," said Jawn.

Awsten almost choked on his water. "No!"

"You do!" laughed Jawn derisively. "You like a retard!"

"Stop it!" said Awsten, feeling the color rise to his cheeks.

"Do your fucking homework," interrupted Jayden.

"Fine, Mom," said Jawn, and returned to his calculus. 

Awsten groaned softly and picked up his pencil, trying to finish his outline, but he still couldn't focus. Jawn was wrong. He didn't have a crush, he told himself. He was too old to even be using the word crush. All Geoff was to him was some kid from class, nothing worth spending this much time thinking about.

Right?

Still, one part of him remained that wanted to blush when Geoff walked up, wanted to forget how to talk when Geoff was around, wanted to make his knees tremble and palms sweat and force butterflies down his throat. One part that wanted to smile when Geoff talked. One part of him that found Geoff's awkwardness almost...endearing. 

If Jawn ever found out, thought Awsten, he'd never ever let me live this down. I'd forever be the laughingstock of the friend group. No one would want to talk to me. 

Is that the only thing keeping me from talking to him?

Probably not, he thought. I'm a dick anyway. And even if it was, it's a good enough reason to stay the fuck away. Right?

Right.

He labored through the rest of his homework and the first four periods of class the next day. His plan for fifth period was the same as the day before: go to the back of the room and look busy. This plan, however, was foiled by none other than Otto and Chloe.

"Hey, Awsten!" Otto called out upon seeing him. 

"Hi," muttered Awsten, and walked over to their table. "What's up?"

"We were wondering if you wanted to do homework with us today," said Otto. "We're seniors, we can probably give you answers." 

"Uh..." Awsten pondered it for a bit. "Sure. Why not."

"Great!" said Chloe. "We normally do it at Geoff's place, and it's literally six blocks from here. Meet us at the weird hedge thing after school gets out."

Shit. Well, he couldn't back out now, could he? "All right," he said, "I'll be there."

"Cool," said Otto. "We'll have trashy pop-punk blaring in the background."

"Can't say I'm opposed to that," said Awsten.

Geoff burst through the door, looking slightly disheveled like always, and came over to Otto and Chloe's table. "Hey, Geoff," said Otto.

"Hi," mumbled Geoff.

"Awsten said yes," said Chloe.

"Okay. Cool," said Geoff. His eyes, Awsten noticed, were fixed on the floor instead of wandering the room like normal. 

Before Awsten could stop himself, he burst out, "Are you all right?"

"M'good," said Geoff. "Uh, why d'ya ask?"

"I don't know," stuttered Awsten.

"Sorry," said Geoff sheepishly. 

"Dude, it's fine," said Awsten. "It's not your fault."

Geoff nodded absently and winced as Ms. Costello clapped her hands to start class. Awsten excused himself to the back of the room.

****

Awsten was the last one to show up at the weird hedge thing.

Otto and Chloe waved at him. Geoff didn't look. Another girl he didn't recognize stood by him, not reacting at all. 

"H-hey," he said, and turned to the mysterious new girl. "Who are you?"

She didn't move. Geoff nudged her shoulder and she looked up, scanning Awsten's face intently. Her hands flew up, gesturing frantically, creating wild patterns in front of her face. She was pretty, if you disregarded the rather blank look on her face. 

"This is Jenna," said Geoff. He formed his own hands into a series of gestures and Jenna nodded.

"What are you doing?" asked Awsten.

"Sign language," said Geoff. "Y'don't know it?"

"No," said Awsten. "Is she deaf or something?"

"Yeah."

"Can't she lip-read?"

Geoff shook his head. "Never learned how."

"That's sad."

"S'not," said Geoff. "She's hilarious."

"We should get going," interjected Otto. Geoff signed to Jenna, who nodded and pointed down the sidewalk. 

*****

Awsten didn't know what he expected Geoff's house to look like, but he was surprised at how normal it was. The front room was very clean and tastefully furnished. Geoff dropped his school stuff on the coffee table and waved for the others to do the same.

Hesitantly, Awsten took a seat on the couch next to Geoff. The house had a faint smell of mint blowing through it, which he attributed to the potted mint plants on the nearest windowsill.

"Those're my sister's."

Awsten flinched. Geoff had sharp eyes, he thought. "Er, they make your house smell nice," he said. _Small talk._ "You have a sister?"

"Two," said Geoff. "Uh, they're in college. I water the plants, um, while they're gone."

"What are they like?"

"The plants, or Sarah and Rebecca?"

Awsten chuckled. "Your sisters."

"Oh," said Geoff. "Uh, well..." He played with the hem of his shirt. "Sarah's in her first year and Rebecca's gonna graduate. She's got a degree in, um, psychology."

"Yikes," said Awsten.

"I know," said Geoff, smiling slightly. "I don't like them."

Awsten returned the smile. 

An awkward silence ensued. Geoff cleared his throat. "Uh, let's, like, do homework."

"Yeah."

Awsten finished his paper for English and expected to be the first one done. He was shoving his stuff in his bag when Geoff tapped his shoulder.

"What's up?" whispered Awsten. 

"Nothing," said Geoff. "I wanna, like, show you my cat."

"Cat?"

"Uh, you're not allergic, are you?" Geoff stood up and closed his notebook.

"No," said Awsten. "You have a cat?"

"Well, yeah." Geoff started towards the kitchen door. Confused, Awsten followed him.

Geoff led him through the kitchen to a hallway with several doors. He opened the one with the Sum 41 poster and motioned for Awsten to come inside. 

The room's-Geoff's bedroom's-walls were completely papered in band posters, and the floor with stuff that shouldn't be on the floor. Messy as shit, but at least the bed was made. Curled up on the pillow was a brown tabby cat, just chilling.

"Is that the cat?"

"Yeah," said Geoff. "His name's Oliver." He sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked Oliver's head. "Y'wanna pet him?"

"Sure, I guess," said Awsten, taking a seat on the other side of Geoff's bed. He reached out to run his fingers through Oliver's fur, but pulled back at the last second.

"He's nice," said Geoff. "He won't, like, hurt you or anything."

Reluctantly, Awsten traced his hand down Oliver's back. The cat purred and nudged Geoff's hand with his face.

"He wants me to pet his ears," said Geoff, the cute little smile creeping back onto his face. He scratched behind Oliver's ears and the cat closed his eyes as if having an orgasm.

"He's very soft," remarked Awsten, petting Oliver's back.

"He's a good kitty," said Geoff. "For a few years, uh, he was, like, my only friend."

"Really?" said Awsten absently. 

"Sometimes, well, I feel like," Geoff paused, "like a cat in a world full of dogs."

Awsten slowed his petting to listen.

"Dogs play-fight and it's cute. When I do it, it's, like, inappropriate." Geoff breathed. "And people don't wanna tell me why."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I'm not like them," said Geoff. "I do cat things. They do dog things."

Awsten scratched under Oliver's chin as Geoff went on. 

"I don't-well-I don't understand the dog things. I'm like, trying and everything, but I just." Geoff placed his head in his hands. "Don't. Get. It."

"They get you, though."

"No, they don't," said Geoff. "They've never actually, like, asked me what's in my head. And I've learned people don't really care."

"I'm sure they do-"

Geoff shook his head violently. "No, they don't. They say it for me. They don't, well, listen. It's like m-It's like meowing at them, um, and they're, like, barking in my face."

"Huh."

"I wish I had a better metaphor."

Awsten stopped petting Oliver. "Your cat metaphor is pretty good."

Geoff brushed at the fur behind the cat's ears. "Not enough. Y'know, nothing's good enough for them if it comes out of my mouth."

"Whoa."

"What?"

"That's deep. I didn't think you were that deep."

Geoff smiled and stood up. "Uh, thanks. Otto probably, um, wants us back."

"Yeah, we should get back. Thanks for letting me pet your cat, though."

"I love my cat too."

As Awsten followed Geoff back to the living room, he decided he could give this kid a chance.

If only for the free cat petting.


	6. Mint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is short and kinda bad, but recently I have found myself with absolutely NO motivation to write.

"Awsten?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Can you take these out to the car?" She thrust a plate of cookies at Awsten.

"Sure, I guess," said Awsten. 

He took the cookies and carefully made his way to the car. His mom bustled around a bit in the kitchen, picked something up off the counter, and followed him.

"What are these for?" asked Awsten as he pushed the front door open. 

She hurried down the porch steps. "The same person they're for every year."

"Who?"

His mom stopped dead in her tracks. "You don't remember?"

"No."

"I guess I never took you with me, then." She resumed walking to the car. "Remember the support group I was in?"

"No."

She sighed. "Well, I was in a support group when you were younger. It was for parents like me, and people like you, and just anyone who needed that kind of consoling. I met this woman there and we were friends."

"So these are for her?"

"No," said his mom, "these are for her family."

"What happened to her?"

"She died a while ago. You were about eleven."

"Oh."

"So I figure the cookies are the least I can do." His mom unlocked the car. "She had a son, about your age. I can't remember if I already asked you about him."

Awsten opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.

"And from what you've said just now, you don't either." She got into the driver's seat and motioned for him to sit next to her. "Let's get going."

She started the car up and began down the road. 

"Do you know her son?"

"I don't know, who is he?"

His mom smiled. "I don't remember his first name, but their last name was Wigington. She didn't tell me much about him, just that he got it from her and..."

"And what?"

"And that he was on the autism spectrum," she finished. "So you probably don't know him."

Awsten grunted an acknowledgement and turned his attention to the road. The route his mother was taking was decidedly familiar, very similar to the route to school. 

They had just pulled onto the street Awsten's school was on when they turned right and headed down a smaller side street. Awsten knew this side street. He also knew that house they were pulling up right in front of. 

"This is the place," said his mother as she parked the car. "Come on, get out."

Awsten dragged himself onto the sidewalk and followed his mother up the front path to the door. She rang the doorbell and handed Awsten the plate of cookies. 

The door opened and Awsten almost dropped the plate.

"H-hey," said Geoff. 

"Hello, sweetheart," said Awsten's mother. "We brought you cookies."

"Like last year," murmured Geoff. "Thank you."

"Any time, dear," said Awsten's mother. 

"I didn't know, uh, this was your mom."

Awsten looked at his feet and passed Geoff the plate of cookies. "Yeah, she is, I guess."

"You know each other?" said Awsten's mother.

Geoff nodded. "Class."

"He's one of Ms. Costello's students," clarified Awsten. 

"Oh, really?" said his mother. "Are you friends?"

Awsten looked up at Geoff. "Are we?"

Geoff shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Why are you, like, asking me? I wouldn't know. Um, did that, like, sound rude? Sorry. I just, uh, don't know."

"We can be."

"What?"

"Sure," said Awsten. "Why not? We're friends now."

"Okay."


	7. Teal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, but hey. I'm still alive.

The bell rang for the end of fourth period and Geoff Wigington was buzzing once again. That was just the way boys like Awsten were. They're cute and they made Geoff's heart race a couple thousand miles per hour. 

Especially when they walked him to class and gave him cookies.

Geoff stood on his tiptoes outside his classroom and looked around for the little splash of blue he could follow, and sank down in dismay when he couldn't find Awsten.

"Down here."

Geoff turned. Awsten stood next to him, smiling slightly, and he almost shit himself.

"Shall we?" said Awsten, gesturing to the hall. Geoff's mouth went dry, and he nodded.

They walked, nearly in silence until Geoff turned to him. "Homework again?"

Awsten grimaced in thought and shook his head. "I've already got plans."

No sooner had the words left his lips than a small Asian kid ran up to him. "Awsten!"

"Ini?" said Awsten, placing a hand on the kid's shoulder. "What's up?"

"We're off for tonight," panted Ini. "Jayden-he-"

"What happened to Jayden?" asked Awsten. Geoff realized he must be intruding on a moment, and tried to be as quiet as possible.

"He got suspended."

"What?" said Awsten. "What for?"

"I don't know," said Ini, "but, um, you know that kid he kind of had the hots for?"

"Rockets?"

"Yeah," said Ini. "He's expelled."

"Jesus Christ!" said Awsten. "What'd he do?"

"I don't know," said Ini, "but I think this means our study date is off."

"Oh," said Awsten.

"Yeah," said Ini. "So, uh, sorry."

Awsten shook his head. "No, no, it's fine, I'm just..." He trailed off, walking faster. "Surprised."

"Me too," said Ini. "But you have to get to class."

"Kinda," said Awsten, nodding. "You probably should do that too."

Ini nodded vigorously and scampered off. 

Awsten turned to face Geoff. "I guess I'm down for homework with you and your friends."

Geoff nodded. "Okay. Cool." 

Awsten smiled and looked back out at the signs in the hall. He rounded a sharp corner, Geoff barely hanging on behind him, and almost slammed into the classroom door. "Boom," said Awsten, and opened the door for Geoff. 

Butterflies kicked up in his stomach and fifth period was a blur.

*****

School let out and Awsten was so distracted thinking about Jayden he almost forgot about his promise to do homework with Geoff. If they hadn't passed each other in the hallway, he would've totally blown him off.

Fortunately for the both of them, upon seeing each other they came to the unspoken agreement that they would walk to the weird looking hedge thing together and wait for Geoff's other friends to show up.

The wait was quiet. Neither of them spoke and in any other scenario Awsten would've found it incredibly awkward. As the minutes slipped past, though, he realized he didn't feel strange being silent with Geoff. No, Geoff's silence was...different somehow. He couldn't put his finger on why. 

He was almost disappointed when Otto, Chloe, and Jenna appeared. He would've liked to continue being nice and silent with Geoff. 

The walk to Geoff's house was slightly less quiet, but Geoff himself kept his mouth shut, and for that Awsten was thankful. It meant he didn't have to speak either. 

They arrived and Awsten found himself sitting next to Geoff on his couch, barely able to concentrate on his essay. Awsten stared at his paper for who knows how long-could've been five minutes, could've been an hour-and by the time Geoff had finished his math Awsten had only written five words. Screw it, he thought. It's not due till tomorrow.

"Awsten."

"He speaks." The comment slipped out of Awsten's mouth before he had the chance to stop it. Geoff looked slightly miffed at this, but went on with his sentence.

"I'm, uh-" he cleared his throat "-there's a new fro-yo place downtown, and, um, I..." He trailed off, pausing as though to catch his breath, and continued. "I was just, um, wondering if, uh, maybe you wanted to, like, check it out with me?"

Shit, thought Awsten. Shit, shit, shit.

"Yeah, sure."


	8. Blue

Geoff was thinking about Awsten again.

The whole walk to the fro-yo place, he couldn't stop thinking about that darn boy. Understandable, but a little nerve-wracking for Geoff.

He could barely concentrate on what Jenna was signing. Absently he signed "Okay" back and let his heart hammer in his chest all the way to the fro-yo place. 

Awsten wasn't there yet. That was fine, thought Geoff. Maybe I'll impress him by being early. 

Just maybe I'll forget to mention I had someone walk me here. 

Too late he wondered if Awsten was the territorial type—the kind to see Geoff with a girl and be instantly put off. But he'd spent enough time with him and Chloe. It was probably fine.   
Everything is fine.

Geoff sat down at a table off to the side, Jenna standing beside him. He signed "Thank you" to her. 

She smiled and signed back "Any time. I should get going now, though."

"Guess I'll see you later," signed Geoff. 

Jenna's smile widened and she waved before turning out of the shop. Almost as if summoned, Awsten brushed past her on his way in. Geoff wondered if he should wave him down, but they met eyes and that idea died a fiery death. 

"Hey," said Awsten, sliding in beside Geoff. 

"Sup," said Geoff. 

"Should we?"

"Uh, yeah."

God, that could've been a whole lot smoother, thought Geoff as he stood up again. The two of them walked to the fro-yo machines and contemplated existence for a second before simultaneously going for the strawberry. 

Damn it. 

"You go first," said Awsten, apparently trying to be somewhat of a gentleman.

"No, you go ahead."

If Awsten hadn't accepted that they would've gone on forever, but thankfully for Geoff Awsten obliged and took his fro-yo. Geoff was just about to serve himself when Awsten's head jerked around. 

At first Geoff didn't quite get what he was looking at. Two other boys had walked into the shop, what's the big deal about that? Then he realized he recognized the shorter of the two. And that they were approaching him and Awsten. And that the tall one had a smug little smirk on his face. 

"Awsten!" said Ini. "Fancy seeing you here."

"You too, Inigo," said Awsten, voice quivering slightly. 

"Who's your friend?"

"Oh," said Awsten. 

Long pause. Geoff's heart almost exploded out of his chest with anticipation for Awsten's next words.

"This is Geoff from fifth period." Awsten dropped his gaze to the ground. "And, uh, Geoff, these are Ini and Jayden. They're...uh..."

"We're your friends, Awsten," said Jayden. "Remember? Friends." He spoke slowly, as if talking to a young child. 

"That's not helping," shot back Awsten, a hint of a playful smile in his voice. "I was gonna say that they're the random-ass band of Australians at our school, but friends also applies. When they're not being huge pieces of shit."

"Hey!" said Jayden. "You're still my friend when you're being a huge piece of shit."

"But I'm always a huge piece of shit," said Awsten, "so that doesn't count."

Jayden laughed. "That's true."

For a brief, slightly uncomfortable second, Geoff made direct eye contact with Ini, who smirked and nodded. Geoff didn't quite get what he meant by that, but he assumed something like "They're always like this."

"Anyway," cut in Awsten abruptly, "we were just getting fro-yo. Nice day for it." The awkwardness had returned. "Do you two want to, uh, join us?"

"Sure," said Jayden. "Why not? It'll be a double date."

Awsten facepalmed. "Dude, just get your fro-yo."

*****

"So what's the story?" asked Awsten, taking a bite of his fro-yo.

"On what?" said Jayden. 

"You know," said Awsten, "the shit. With Rockets."

"It wasn't my fault," snapped Jayden immediately.

"I figured," said Awsten, "but like, what happened?"

"He sent me dickpics."

"He what?"

Jayden set down his spoon. "We were talking last Tuesday afternoon, and he started getting a bit handsy. I didn't mind, because I thought he was really hot, but then at school the next day he kept texting me."

"What was he saying?" asked Awsten, leaning forward slightly, his shirt lifting up a bit, and Geoff couldn't help but think he had a cute lower back. As backs go. 

"Stuff I wouldn't have minded him saying to me in person. Just not over text at school. And pictures." Jayden looked down. "I got sick of it in math and opened up his messages to tell him to stop, but I guess someone saw me and snitched me out. So I got called up to the office, and he was there, and he was staring daggers at me like I'd done something wrong. And they went through my phone and found the pictures. And because I didn't tell him to stop right away, they thought I was harboring his secret or something. Straight-up, I was gonna get expelled too. But I talked my way out of it."

"So you're good now."

"More or less," said Jayden. "I'm not a legal sex offender, at least."

Awsten nodded. "That's a bonus."

"Yep," said Jayden. "They went through his phone too and found more people he was messaging."

"Who?"

"Freshmen. Asking for foot pics."

"Jesus Christ."

 

"I know," said Jayden. "But I've exhausted that subject with the principal over and over again. Now talk about you. What's the latest going-on in your life?" He glanced at Geoff with a wry smile. 

Awsten noticed this and sighed deeply. "It's not what you think it is. It's actually nothing. Literally nothing's happening in my life."

"That's quite a shame," said Jayden. "What about you, Geoff?"

"No," said Geoff immediately. 

"Come on," said Jayden, "this is a judgement-free zone. Tell us about yourself."

"Um," said Geoff. "I'm nobody."

"Wrong answer," said Jayden. "You're a corporeal person and that makes you somebody."

"Okay, sure," said Geoff, drumming his fingers on the table. "I'm Geoff, I'm seventeen, and I own every Sum 41 album on vinyl."

"Dude, that is so cool," said Jayden. "Ini loves Sum 41."

"As Ini, can confirm," said Ini dryly. "Favorite album?"

"Does This Look Infected," said Geoff. "Just because, like, Hell Song is a masterpiece."

"That you are correct about," said Ini. "I'm more of an All Killer, No Filler man, though. 

"Anyway," said Jayden, "is this your first date with Awsten?"

"It's not a date," snapped Awsten. "We're just two bros hanging out."

"Four bros," said Jayden. 

"In a room, bitching," muttered Ini so softly Geoff almost missed it.

"And we're friends," said Awsten. "We're just friends."

Geoff took that with a grain of salt.

The four of them continued talking in a similar manner, bouncing back and forth between actual conversations and teasing Awsten, and Geoff would be lying if he said he didn't have a good time. They actually included him in the conversation. And that was a trip, because no one ever let him talk about Sum 41 for that long. And they didn't seem to hate him too much. Every so often Awsten would smile at him and Geoff would melt inside, and Awsten would smile again, thus worsening the effect and almost making Geoff show emotions. 

Finally it came time to end the fro-yo adventure. It was five and Ini's mom had been waiting outside for an hour. And on their way out Awsten whispered, "We should do this again," to Geoff. 

He grinned and nodded, and Awsten went on. 

"But maybe without those two. I love them, but..." He trailed off and angled his head towards Jayden. 

Geoff nodded again. "Yeah. Definitely."


End file.
